![]() And though the album initially did well critically, its commercial failure is troubling and has certainly contributed to its peripheral role in the canons of both Ronstadt and Harris. ![]() That Western Wall is now out-of-print seems, on paper only, a slight-on paper because, we dinosaurs of tactile music must remind ourselves, most listeners prefer their music digitally, where the album is readily available (though it is dubbed “The Tuscon Sessions” on Spotify). For instance, opener “Loving the Highway Man” would succeed simply by plucking a brilliant if overlooked track from Andy “Wall of Voodoo” Prieboy’s solo debut-a singer/songwriter who it would be hard to argue had much cache in ’99 (which has certainly, and sadly, dissipated even more in the intervening years)-but the track truly excels by pulling the listener through its chilling tale of ruination with ethereal, haunted vocals and whimpering, hallucinatory guitars. Harris does contribute a couple songs (one with the help of the McGarrigle sisters), but the album’s breadth, dedication, and generosity elevate it above a somnambulant stroll through the material. Recorded at the exquisite Arizona Inn, the album, appropriate given its principals, is mostly a covers affair. ![]() The group gave it another go the same year as Western Wall with Trio II, which contains an evocative take on Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush.” Western Wall, however, is required listening more so for local, musically inclined denizens. Now, Ronstadt and Harris are longtime friends and had collaborated before Western Wall on Trio (1987)-a treat of shoulder-padded country-western with Dolly Parton rounding out the triplet. A more traditionally countrified twang, Harris was no stranger to the rarefied air of the heavyweight ‘70s, singing backup on Dylan’s Desire (1976) and performing a stunning take on “Evangeline” with the Band the same year for The Last Waltz (released in 1978). Harris was no slouch either, and Luxury Liner (1977) is as enchanting as anything in the ‘70s songstress oeuvre. Ronstadt’s throaty vibrato is unparalleled, and its beguiling and calming powers at least partially explain her legions of fans and millions of records sold. Ronstadt’s output has maintained a prolific clip, but her knockout releases from the ‘70s alone (in this case, over the course of three years) are stunning: Heart Like a Wheel (1974), Prisoner in Disguise (1975), and Hasten Down the Wind (1976). (I will leave it to the comment section, hopefully, to flesh out her local legacy.) Throughout the 1970s, Ronstadt made her mark in the incestuous Los Angeles music scene, backing Zevon here, playing with the Eagles there, before launching a juggernaut career that revealed her as preeminent musical interpreter and vibrant chanteuse. Linda, of course, is a native daughter, and her significance to Tucson is unimpeachable. Theirs is a collaboration so pristine, so lovely, and so unwavering that the connective ampersand is requisite. Zevon's version of the song features Phil Everly singing harmony vocals, and also David Lindley playing slide guitar.After taking a week to remove our heads from the condom-strewn New York sewers of Lou Reed, we touch down locally-at the Arizona Inn, specifically-for the crisp, meditative desert of Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris. It was with Browne's assistance that Zevon got a major record contract. Their relationship played a significant role in his career thereafter. The track was produced by Jackson Browne, who met Zevon in the mid-seventies. The lyrics of the song describe the latter days of a relationship between a man and a woman, with the woman accepting that "nothing's working out the way they planned" before the man accepts that "she needs to be free". The song was later covered by Linda Ronstadt, who would use the song as the title track for her seventh solo LP. "Hasten Down the Wind" is a song written and recorded by Warren Zevon and featured on his eponymous major-label debut album. 1976 single by Warren Zevon "Hasten Down the Wind"
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |